Why youngest woman to ever receive death sentence in the US is still alive three decades on

A woman who committed a brutal murder when she was just 18 has lived on Death Row her whole adult life, but hasn't yet received her punishment.

Christa Pike, now 47 years old, is waiting for the day of her death after being convicted for the first-degree murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, on January 12, 1995, in Tennessee.

What did Christa Pike do?

Christa Pike was convicted of murdering her classmate (Tennessee Department of Corrections)

When she committed the heinous crime, Pike was just 18, and convinced that Slemmer was attempting to steal her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.

With the help of Shipp and a friend, 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson, they lured Slemmer into a forest under the pretences of offering her some cannabis to say sorry for the misunderstanding.

Testimonies that were read out during the court case say that Slemmer, 19 at the time when she was brutally murdered, was stabbed and slashed for half an hour.

And when the crime couldn't get any more gruesome, it was reported that Pike carved a pentagram into her chest, smashed her skull with asphalt, and then kept a piece of the skull to show to her classmates.

What was Christa Pike's sentence?

The three teenagers were swiftly arrested following the brutal attack.

On March 22, 1996, Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, becoming the youngest woman in the US to receive the death penalty.

She was sentenced to death by electrocution, and video footage of the sentencing sees Pike pleading with the court not to punish her in this way.

The 47-year-old has been on Death Row for most of her life. (WBIR/Channel 10)

How long has Christa Pike been on Death Row?

There is no average time that a prisoner is usually on Death Row before they die. For some, it is much shorter than others.

And that is certainly the case for Pike, who has lived on Death Row as the only female for the entirety of her adult life.

Half of all inmates on Death Row have spent a decade there, but Pike has had to endure over three.

During this time, she has mostly been in isolation, due to being the only female.

On September 12 this year, Tennessee Supreme Court declined to hear Pike's latest appeal challenging her death sentence, which details her mental illnesses at the time the crime was committed.

On what grounds Christa Pike appeal?

Pike's lawyers have argued that 'there is no hard line of maturity or difference between the brain development of a 17-year-old and 18-year-old'.

They also argued that at the time of the murder, Pike was suffering from severe, untreated mental illness and intense trauma, which contributed to the crime.

If Death Row eventually go ahead with the killing, Pike would become the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.